Airbnb Contests Illegal Adverts Case Filed By Paris

Airbnb
is contesting the claims made by the City of Paris on illegal
advertisements on their portal. The company was sued for more than
$14 million or 12.5 million Euros by Paris for posting more than 1000
rental ads illegally. The French law mandates that all homeowners who
want to rent out their residences on rental platforms for a period of
close to 3 months or 120 days should have a registration number
provided by the local municipality associated in their
advertisements. That helps to prevent owners from renting out their
properties for a longer time. This law came into force in the year
2018, and rental companies like Airbnb will be fined 12,500 Euros for
every ad posting that has no registration number.

Why
this law?

The
mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo in an interview to a newspaper said that
‘the goal is to send a shot across the bows to get it over with
unauthorized rentals that spoil some Parisian neighborhoods.’ This
act comes after many European countries were concerned that companies
like Airbnb are a threat to the hotel industry as it provides unfair
competition and also can turn many neighborhoods in prominent cities
to tourist-only places. All online platforms have to follow the EU
consumer guidelines like offering transparent pricing details. Many
countries have blamed Airbnb for rising in rental prices and also
creating a housing shortage for locals.

What
Airbnb says?

Airbnb
a San Francisco based company which helps connect renters with
property owners through their website says that the rules in Paris
for tourist rentals for a short duration stay is highly bureaucratic
and is noncompliant with the EU standards, even as Paris has asked
the company to pay 12.5 million Euro fine for posting 1k illegal
advertisements. France which is the next biggest market to the
company after the United States has around 65k Paris homes listed and
in response to the interview by Anne Hidalgo, a company spokeswoman
in an email said that the terms set are ‘inefficient,
disproportionate and against European Union regulations.’

Further,
the company also argued that it had implemented the necessary
measures along with many other rental platforms that offer short-time
rental homes already so that homeowners in Paris can rent their homes
in obeyance with the EU rules. The company spokeswomen said in a
phone interview that ‘we hope to be able to work with all concerned
players toward solutions that are suited to French cities and
inhabitants.’

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